The Yes-on-Measure-T campaign raised $8,000 at its first
fundraiser on Aug. 9.
Hollister – After losing a close election in 2006, advocates for a sales tax increase say they’ve learned from their mistakes and they’ve launched a new campaign for the November 2007 ballot.
The Yes-on-Measure-T campaign raised $8,000 at its first fundraiser on Aug. 9, said City Councilman Doug Emerson, a campaign spokesman. That means the group is almost halfway to its $20,000 goal.
“I’m confident that it’s going to pass, but in terms of the campaign, we’re looking at serious fundraising,” Emerson said.
The City Council recently voted to put a 1 percent sales tax increase on the ballot. Voters defeated a similar proposal, Measure R, by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin in 2006.
But sales-tax supporters insist the additional tax dollars are needed to help the city extricate itself from its financial plight.
This campaign will focus less on numbers and more on how the tax measure can help the community, Emerson said.
“Really, the goal is to provide a better quality of life for the residents of Hollister,” he said. “Focusing on what we’re going to provide rather than on solving a financial problem, to me that makes a lot of sense.”
The San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, the Hollister Downtown Association and the San Benito County Association of Realtors have already endorsed the measure, Emerson said. The Yes-on-T campaign plans to meet with other groups throughout August and to start door-to-door campaigning and phone-banking in September.
But not everyone is enthusiastic about the tax hike. Marvin Jones, president of the county’s Republican Central Committee, said the group has yet to take an official position on the tax. But as a private citizen, he opposes it.
After all, Jones noted, the council recently approved a number of other rate increases, including a controversial hike to sewer rates.
“It’s been five or six years that the city’s reserves have been decreasing,” Jones said. “This is not a surprise, and it’s not an emergency. It’s just poor management.”
After Measure R failed in 2006, the council approved a number of service cuts, including reductions to the fire and police departments.
If the measure passes, Hollister’s sales tax would increase from 7.25 percent to 8.25 percent. The sales tax is 8.25 percent in Gilroy and San Jose, and 7.75 percent in Salinas, according to the state Board of Equalization.
Although it could affect his business, Maddux Jewelry owner Rick Maddux, president of the HDA, said he supports the tax increase.
“Number one is the police protection,” Maddux said. “It bothers me a lot, especially in my business.”
The other reason for Maddux’s support is “the appearance of the city.” With the city’s budget cuts, downtown maintenance and cleaning has ceased. The most visible sign of the problem, Maddux said, is sap dotting the sidewalk under every tree. That sap comes from aphids infesting the trees. With reduced dollars for tree maintenance, city workers weren’t able to fight the infestation by treating trees until late July, and Community Services Director Clay Lee said they don’t have time to clean the sidewalks.
“Right now, we’ve got to have this bridge … to where other funds for the city pick up,” Maddux said.
